Sort out NHS dentistry for children, mum demands

A mother has called on the government to "sort out" the state of NHS dentistry after taking her 10-year-old son for his first appointment.

Beth, from Taunton in Somerset, said there were "just no spaces" – with figures showing that more than half of children in the town do not have access to NHS dentist care.

She spoke out as The Magic Dentist charity visited a Taunton primary school to provide oral hygiene advice through magic – in lieu of NHS preventative care.

A government spokesperson said it was working "at pace" to fix an NHS dental service "in crisis".

Beth said the state of dentistry in Somerset was "very frustrating".

"I think it's important to look after your teeth," she said.

"I've heard a lot of mums say they're struggling, or they've only just got in, or they've been kicked out, or they pay extreme amounts of money to get their children seen."

A 2025 survey by the MP for Taunton and Wellington, Gideon Amos, found that 64% of children in the constituency cannot access NHS dentist care.

This is worse than the figure nationally, regionally and in Somerset.

The Magic Dentist charity is now working with Holy Trinity Primary School, in partnership with the local private Whyman House Dental Practice, with the support of Amos.

Beth's son Koby said the magic was "really fun and entertaining".

Nicki Rowland, who founded the charity, said "shocking" NHS data showed that tooth decay was the leading cause of hospital admissions for children under nine.

"It is time for us all to take action and do the right thing by our children," she said.

Amos added: "After years of declining NHS dentistry, children across Taunton and Wellington have been particularly badly hit."

Last year, MPs were told that 4.5 million patients were going untreated annually.

The Association of Dental Groups, which represents more than 2,000 practices in the UK, told a parliamentary committee this was because of a 2,749 shortfall in the NHS dental workforce in England.

There have been widespread reports in recent years of patients travelling hundreds of miles for treatment, or pulling out their own teeth because of a lack of access to care.

To fix the problems, the government has increased the amount dentists get for NHS work and provided £20,000 "golden hellos" to incentivise dentists to work in areas with the poorest access.

But the British Dental Association says payments for NHS work remain too low.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "This government inherited an NHS dental system in crisis, but we are working at pace to fix it, including bringing in supervised toothbrushing for young children in the most deprived areas."

The spokesperson said the toothbrushing programme for those aged three to five would support up to 600,000 children this year, and that 4 million toothbrushes and tubes of toothpaste had been delivered to schools – including in Somerset.

A spokesperson for NHS Somerset said: "While access remains a challenge, a further 20,000 people across Somerset will gain access to NHS dental care through the opening of three new practices across the county (two opened last year, with one due to open this spring).

"This is in addition to the thousands of urgent care appointments that have also been made available."

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